Material mixer



sept. 4, 1923. Y 1,467,237 E. J7 DELEHANTY MATERIAL lMIXER Filed Jan. 24, `1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ,Z5 a. 6 F/a? Sept. 4, 1923.

A. 1,467,237 E. J: pELEHAN'rY" MATERIAL MIXER Filed aan.. 24. 192s sheets-sheet `2 Patented Sept. 4, 1923.

UNITED STAT-Es EDWARD J. DELEEANTY,

PATENT' j oJPeFicgE.

or ALBANY, NEW YoEx.

MATERIAL MIXER.,

Application led January 24, 1923. Serial No. 614,588.

mixing concrete or mortar, although it mayy be advantageously used in mlxing grains or other materials. Y

Its general objects are to provide a mixer: which is light and which may be conveniently transported `by an individual; which may be cheaply and durably constructed; which may be easily charged and discharged, and which may be easily and eiiiciently operated by hand. Another object is to provide a mixer into which a charge of materials to be mixed may be dumped at any convenient time and kept separated from a partially or completely mixed charge in the mixing chamber so that the operations of charging and mixing, or charging and discharging, may be carried on simultaneously. Another and further object is to provide a mixer in which Vthe hopper, the mixing chamber, and the discharge chute or trough may be rigidly connectedk together to form a compact unit which may be tilted upon the mixer shaft to provide dumping. These and other objects and advantages will appear more4 'fully as the description proceeds, reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which- Fig. l is a plan view of my mixer; Fig. 2 is an end elevation, viewed from the charging end; Fig. 3 is a secti-onal view of the chute on the, line 3 3 of Fig. l; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the mixer shaft; Fig. 5 is a sectional view of the mixer shaft on the line 5-5 of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is an elevation View of a mixer paddle or agitator, drawn to a somewhat enlarged scale; Fig. 7 is an end view of a paddle or agitator; Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section on the line 8-.8 of Fig. l; and, Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the entire device.

'Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

l, represents the hopper into which the materials to be mixed are deposited and in which they are retained until the operator permits them to pass by gravity-into the cylindrical mixing chamber, 2, 'by raising the gate, 3.y Tangential' to the bottom of the cylindricalk mixing chamber is thebot# tom, 4, of` the chute, 5, which slopesxup-v wardly at an angle to the horizontal ex.v cept when the mixer is in the discharging r position, as shown in thedotted outline in Fig. 8, when it slopes downwardly, as at 4. By constructing the bottom of the discharge ychute tangent to the bottom or" the mixing cylinder, it is obvious that I pro- Vide a. perfectly smooth passageway for the' flow of the mixed materials from the vmixing cylinder into the chute and that theentire contents of the mixing cylindervoan be discharged with less angular movement of the Chute than they Could if are |piane of um,

bottom of thel chute'intersected the mixing cylinder. The angles formed between the sides of the chute and the bottom are preferablyv rounded, beveled, or` `illeted, as.

shown at 6, to prevent mortar or concreteV 'from collecting and setting in the otherwise sharp angle. t t

In the axis of the cylindrical mixing chamber isthe hollow shaft, 7, carrying the mixingfpaddles, 8, which. may be of any number and which I prefer to arrange about the shaft as shown in Figs. l and 8. The portion, 9, (see Fig. 4) l of the shaft,`7, to which the paddles .are attached, and which, of course, is within the cylindrical mixing chamber, is. square in lcross-section. AThe portions, l0, of the shaft, which extend through the sides oi the mixer are'round in cross-section. It will be noted that the hopper and chute are rigidly connected by the sides, 11,'and the cylindricalportion,12,'to form a single unit supported onptliev shaft, 7 The ,end portions, 10, of .the shaft, extend into and are'supported by the bear,- ings, 13, secured tov members, 14,A of the frame. anyfsuitablematerial such as angle irons Vor other 'structural 'shapes having the necesfy "Ihis frame .may be constructed ofopen to permit the chute to drop down to the dumping position, as shown byA the dotted outline in Fig. 8, and here the side members 0f the frame are simply connected by the horizontal member, 21, which also acts as a stop for limiting the downward movement of the chute. It is obvious that the member, 21, might be placed at any determined elevation, it being sufficient only that the slope of the bottom of the chute, when resting thereon, be great enough to permit the mixed materials to flow out by gravity. At the cross braced end of the frame I place another horizontal member, 22, which acts as a stop, limiting the move ment of the mixing unit in the opposite direction. Pivotally secured to the sides of the members, 14, are the handles, 23, which serve somewhat as the handles of a wheelbarrow for raising the rear end of the device and pushing it about on the wheels, 16. IVhen in use, these handles cooperate with the stops, 24, on the end posts, 17; and when not in use, they may be dropped to the position, 23', as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 9. Keyed, or otherwise secured to the shaft, 7, which projects suiiifciently through one of the bearings, 13, for this purpose, is the hand crank, 25, by which the mixer shaft and paddles are rotated.

In order that a worn paddle may be conveniently replaced, I prefer to construct it,

, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7 of a single piece of metal having a. portion, 26, bent to fit around the square shaft and provided with a bolt, 27, for clamping it 1n position on the shaft. The blade portion, 28, of the paddle is twisted about 45 degrees about its longitudinal axis to give it a partial helicoidal surface and make it propeller-like in form so that it will force the material to one side rather than lift it directly. In mounting the paddles upon the shaft, 7, I prefer to arrange them so that alternate paddles will force the material in opposite directions'to obtain a perfect mixture and to prevent the materials from being cony veyed to one end of the mixing chamber by reason of continuous impulses in one direction.

In order that the shaft, 7, may be readily removed from the mixing chamber, I provide the bearings, 29, which are bolted to the sides, 11, of the mixer. It is obvious that even if the sides were of suiiicient thickness toprovide a suitable bearing surface, a hole of such size that the squared portion of the shaft could pass freely therethrough would be entirely too large to form a bearing for the round portion of the shaft.

In operation, the materials to be mixed are dumped into the hopper, 1, and are prevented from passing into the mixing chamber by the diaphragm, 30, and the sliding Meme? gate, 3, which is movable in the recesses, 31, yformed between the diaphragm, and the angles, 32. rlhe gate, 3, may be raised by pulling up on the hook, 33, and the materials will then drop by gravity into the mixing chamber, 2. When the hook, 33, is released, the gate will drop back to the position shown iny Fig. 8, and another charge of materials may be immediately placed 1n the hopper. Ihe crank is now turned until the materials are sufficiently mixed whereupon, the entire mixer is tilted as a unit about the mixer shaft, 7, as shown by the dotted outline in Fig. 8, to allow the mixed materials to iiow down and out the chute. The mixer is then tilted back to its original position and the operation may be repeated. It is obvious, that su'liioient space must be provided between the rea-r end of the mixer and the cross framing to afford clearance for this tilting movement.

I/Vhile I have shown the bottom of the hopper and mixing cylinder as constructed of two separate pieces suitably attached together and to the bottom of the chute to provide a rigidly connected unit, it is clear that these and other particular forms and features of construction here illustrated may be varied without departing from the scope and spirit of my invention, and I do not wish in any way to limit myself to the particular details hereinf shown and described.A It is important however in constructing my mixer that the hopper, mixing chamber, and chute be made watertight.

In practice I have found that No. 18 gauge sheet iron may be satisfactorily used for constructing the main portions of my mixer unit, but that such portions as are subject to considerable abrasion from hard materials such as stone, should be Vconstructed of No. 16 gauge iron.

It will be evident from` a consideration of the foregoing that I have provided a light, compact, and rigid mixing device which is particularly useful in laying concrete sidewalks, curbs, gutters, and other like works because the concrete may be dumped from the chute exactly where it is to be placed and the entire mixer may be readily moved as the work progresses.

1. A mixing machine comprising a cylindrical mixing chamber, a hopper normally closed at the bottom but adapted to discharge into the side of said chamber, means for setting up or cutting off communication between said hopper and chamber, a trough tangential to said chamber along the bottom thereof, and a supporting means for the whole substantially coaxial with the cylindrical chamber; the hopper, trough and mixing chamber being rigidly connected and adapted to rock as a unit about the last mentioned means to discharge the contents of the chamber while retaining the contents of the hopper.

2. In a portable machine adapted for mixing conc-rete, in combination, a hopper; a chute rigidly attached to said hopper for discharging the mixed materials, a mixing chamber intermediate said hopper and chute and communicating with both, means for interrupting the communication between the hopper and the chamber, and supporting means about which the chute may be tipped to discharge the contents of the chamber.

3. In a portable mixing machine adapted for mixing concrete the combination with a hopper normally closed at the bottom, and a chute for discharging the mixed materials, of a segmental mixing cylinder intermediate and attached to both to form a rigid unit, and supporting means about which the unit may be tipped to discharge the contents of the cylinder without spilling the contents of the hopper.

4. In a machine 4adapted for mixing concrete the combination in rigidly fixed relation with an aggregate receiving and retaining means, of a mixing chamber, means for setting up or cutting oif communication between the first mentioned means and said chamber, and pivotally mounted means for' discharging the mixed aggregate at a distance from the machine without discharging the contents of the first mentioned means.

5. In a device of the character described in combination, means for receiving a charge of materials to be mixed, means for conveying the mixed materials from the device to a place of discharge, and means intermediate and communicating with the iirst two mentioned means for retaining the materials during the mixing opera-tion, the whole being connected to form a rigid unit, together with means for mixing the materials including an axis upon which the unit is tiltable to permit the conveying means to perform its function.

6. In a mixing machine of the character' described the combination with a charge r,eceiving means, of a cylindrical mixing chamber rigidly connected thereto and communicating therewith, means for interrupting communication between said first mentioned means and said chamber, a chute havingits bottom rigidly tangential to said chamber, for discharging the mixed materials, and means about which the entire 'device is tilted to provide dumping through said. chute.

7.l In a. device of the class described in combination, a charge receiving hopper, a chute for discharging the mixed materials, a cylindrical mixing chamber tangential to said chute and joining the bottoms of saidhopper and chute to'form a continuous unit, means for' retaining or releasing a charge in saidv hopper, and mixing means within said chamber including a supporting means for said unit.

EDVARI) J. DELEHANTY. 

